Google aims to lift charities' profile with $2 million app grant

Sylvia Pennington

While controversial apps like the single-word messaging service Yo and Uber - which has sent the taxi industry into a spin - have hit the headlines regularly, innovations in the charity world struggle to make a dent in the collective consciousness.

Google is hoping to change that with a national competition to find and fund four clever high-tech projects in the not-for-profit sphere.

Launching on July 1, the $2 million Google Impact Challenge is open to all of Australia’s 17,000 charities. They have until July 29 to enter their proposals.

The four winners will receive $500,000 apiece and access to technical expertise from the company to transform their bright ideas into reality.

A similar competition ran in the US, UK, Brazil and India last year and collective entries numbered in the thousands, according to Google Australia’s director of engineering Alan Noble.

Winning ideas currently in development include a scheme to use solar power to deliver off-the-grid lighting to communities in Africa, a smart camera system to monitor rare wildlife and an app addressing domestic abuse.

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The challenge is designed to encourage charities to “take a look at what they’re doing through a technological filter”, Mr Noble said.

Australian projects which are practical, innovative, address significant issues and can be deployed widely stand the best chance of getting the gong.

“We’re looking for ideas that can readily scale and serve as a model."

Even if a project failed to make the shortlist, the application process could raise awareness and “encourage a bit of moonshot thinking” from charities, he added.

Google can expect to find itself spoilt for choice, according to Rosie Simpson, head of strategic development at The Smith Family, a charity providing educational support to 100,000 disadvantaged children each year.

The charity is likely to enter a proposal to establish a digital link between the high school and university students it supports and professional mentors who can encourage them to aim high and stay on the books.

“One of the biggest issues is [disadvantaged young people] don’t have a network of ambitious adults in the workforce,” Ms Simpson said.

While The Smith Family runs mentoring programs with staff from its corporate sponsors, a LinkedIn-style platform would enable greater interaction between the two camps.

“We know there’s a real willingness to give these kids a leg up and we’d like to digitise the network,” Ms Simpson said.

Finite funds and unceasing demand for frontline services made it impossible for charities to be in the technological vanguard but most were innovative with the resources they had, she added.

“$500,000 would be an enormous shot in the arm for us … It’s a great initiative from Google. Social change is gaining momentum in our age.”

The company has pulled together a heavyweight panel of judges for the contest, including former Test cricketer and breast cancer campaigner Glenn McGrath and media doyen Kim Williams.

They’re joined by the philanthropist and baby photographer Anne Geddes, Google Australia managing director Maile Carnegie and Jacqueline Fuller, the international head of the firm’s charity arm, Google.org

While Ms Carnegie is the company's local managing director responsible for sales and marketing, Mr Noble oversees the engineers and product development in Australia. Google has been bitterly criticised for paying little tax in Australia.